Umbrella notch



United States Patent 3,277,909 UMBRELLA NOTCH Vincent Militano, Massapequa, N.Y., assignor to Finkel Outdoor Products, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed July 23, 1964, Ser. No. 384,761 2 Claims. (Cl. 13528) This invention relates to umbrella notches.

Umbrella notches as heretofore commonly designed are tubular meta-l members fitting over the umbrella poles or sticks, each notch having an upper portion pinned or riveted to the upper end of the umbrella pole to secure the notch in place and a lower portion provided with ribreceiving slots in which the pivoted ends of the ribs are wired and thus secured to the notch for pivotal movement. The pinning or riveting of the notches to the poles requires considerable manual labor and the capital investment and maintenance expense of the equipment required for performing this task. I

It is :a principal object of the present invention to provicle an umbrella notch which can be firmly secured in place readily on an umbrella pole without requiring pinning or riveting and which can be removed readily for repair or replacement.

Another object of this invention is .to provide such notch of simple and sturdy design and which preferably can be molded from plastic material permitting relatively low cost mass production.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of an umbrella having the notch embodying this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of a notch embodying this invention; and

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section through the notch of FIGURE 2 taken in vertical planes indicated by lines 33 on FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 1 shows for purposes of exemplification, a garden or beach type umbrella. The invention, however, is not limited to such umbrellas but includes the smaller hand umbrellas and all types of umbrellas and parasols employing notches. In FIGURE 1, is the umbrella stick or pole having an upper hollow end 11, provided with spaced openings 12, the function of which will be pointed out hereinafter. Pole 10 can be of metal tubing or of other suitable construction material, including a wood pole having at its top a cylindrical sleeve or hollow upper end provided with the openings 12. As conventional, the umbrella comprises a runner 13, held in open position by a spring stop 14. Stret-chers are pivoted at one end to runner 13 and at the opposite end to the laps 16 on ribs 17 to which the canopy or cover 18 is secured. Ribs 17 are pivoted to the notch 20; the present invention is embodied in the construction of this notch.

As best shown in FIGURE 3, notch 20 comprises a cylindrical sleeve having an upper portion 21, a lower portion 22 of greater external diameter than that of upper portion 21, and an intermediate portion 23 of still greater external diameter. The upper portion 21 has an interior bore 24, preferably tapered from top to bottom for reception of the pin 25 of bell 26 (FIGURE 1). Tapering of the bore 24 facilitates the securing of bell 26 in place on the notch 20. In the case of umbrellas not employing bells, such as the smaller rain umbrellas, upper portion 21 can be solid, if desired, of reduced height or eliminated entirely.

Lower portion 22 is formed with spaced resilient fingers 27 separated from the main body of the lower portion 22 3,277,909 Patented Oct. 11, 1966 ice by slots 27'. Each finger 27 has a locking lug 28 extending laterally therefrom at or near its lower end. Each of the fingers 27 is shaped as shown in FIGURE 3 to have a peripheral locking shoulder 31 at the upper end of the locking lug 28. Each finger 27 is thicker at its top 32 than at its free end 33; thus each finger is substantially wedge shaped and provided on its periphery near the free end thereof with the locking ing 28. The free end 33 tapers as at 34 into a thin or substantially knife edge. This construction, when the notch is molded of plastic material having resilient properties such as molding nylon, polypropylene, polyethylene, or synthetic rubbers, makes for inherent resiliency in the fingers so that they will yield inwardly towards the longitudinal axis of the notch when the lower end thereof is inserted in the upper hollow end 11 of the pole. When the locking lugs 28 are positioned to enter the openings 12, the resiliency of the fingers 27 causes the lugs 28 so to do. The lugs 28 and the openings 12 are dimensioned for a close fit therebetween with each lug 28 in position in an opening 12 in snug engagement with the walls defining that opening.

The diameter of the lower portion 22 is such as to permit ready entry thereof into the hollow end 11 of the pole. The resiliency of the fingers 27 enables the lower portion of the fingers 27 to move inwardly as the locking lugs 28 engage the inner walls of the hollow end 11. When these locking lugs 28 are in position to enter their respective openings 12, they do so to lock the notch against movement in all directions relative to the pole 10.

Intermediate portion 23 is, in effect, a collar, the periphery 35 of which is provided With equi-spaced slots 36 extending through the collar from top to bottom thereof, i.e., in a direction parallel to .the longitudinal axis of the notch.

The number of slots 36 is equal to the number of ribs in the umbrella for which the notch is designed. Each slot 36 .is of a width to receive end 37 of a rib 17 having an opening 38 therein, with sufiicient clearance between the rib walls and the walls defining the slot to permit the rib end 37 to pivot relative to intermediate portion 23. A groove 39 in the periphery of the notch, desirably about midway between the top and bottom of intermediate portion 23, intersects the slots 36. Groove 39 receives the tying or fastening wire 40 shown in dotted lines in FIG- URE 3, which wire pivotally secures the ribs 17 to the notch 20. The ribs are secured to the notch in the conventional manner, e.g., the worker passes the securing wire 40 through rib openings 38, then places the ribs with the wire threaded through the rib openings 38 in the slots 36 while positioning the portions of the wire between adjacent ribs .in groove 39 and, after :all the ribs are in place, twists the free ends of the wire together to securely fasten the rib ends 37 to the notch.

It will be noted that the present invention provides a notch which can be secured in place to the upper hollow end of an umbrella pole having spaced openings therein, desirably diametrically opposite each other, by simply inserting the lower end of the notch in the upper hollow end of the pole and forcing the notch home, with the locking lugs positioned in the openings 12 in the pole. While the construction shown has two diametrically opposite locking fingers for use with a pole, the upper end of which has two similarly spaced openings, the notch can have three or four, or even more, spaced locking fingers, with the pole designed with openings 12 to receive the locking lugs on such fingers. The construction shown having two diametrically opposite locking fingers has been found to be eminently satisfactory commercially and is preferred.

The notches can readily be molded from molding plastics, such as nylon, polypropylene and hard rubbers which have suflicient resiliency so that the fingers will have the necessary resilient properties to permit assembly as herein disclosed. Instead of plastic, the notch can be made of metal with the fingers of spring steel or metal or metal alloys resulting in a resilient finger construction. For economic reasons, plastics having resilient properties and good weathering properties are preferred as the structural material.

Since difierent embodiments of this notch invention could be made without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I What is claimed is:

1. An umbrella comprising an umbrella pole having the upper portion thereof hollow and provided with spaced openings in its periphery, a notch including a cylindrical sleeve having an upper portion of smaller outside diameter than that of the lower portion and provided with a tapered axial bore of gradually decreasing diameter from the top toward .the bottom thereof, and an intermediate portion joining the upper and lower portions, the outside diameter of said lower portion fitting within and engaging the hollow portion of said pole, the said lower portion having spaced resilient fingers each formed with a locking 'lug thereon extending laterally away from said finger, the said locking lug of each finger fitting snugly within an opening in the upper portion of the pole to fix said sleeve against movement in all directions, the said intermediate portion forming 2. cy lindrical collar of greater outside diameter than that of said lower portion, said collar having substantially equi-spaced slots in its periphery extending in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of said sleeve, umbrella ribs each having an end engaging each of said slots, and a groove in the outer periphery of said collar at approximately the middle of its thickness intersecting said slots, a wire pivotally secures the ribs to the notch registering with said groove and engaging said rib ends, and a bell having an axial pin engaging said tapered bore to thus secure the bell to the upper part of said pole.

2. The umbrella of claim 1, in which the notch is molded from plastic material having resilient properties.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,469,021 9/1923 Pugel 25 1,711,872 5/ 1929 Bagshaw 135-28 2,264,881 12/1941 Herbin 13525 2,266,684 12/1941 Brown 135-20 2,360,485 10/ 1944 Foster et al 2853 19 2,784,987 3/1957 Corcoran 28587 3,137,027 6/1964 Birkle 16-87.2 3,168,382 2/1965 Chambers et al 34-99 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,008,818 2/1952 France.

66,457 12/ 1928 Sweden.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

L. J. SANTISI, W. E. HEATON, Assistant Examiners. 

1. AN UMBRELLA COMPRISING AN UMBRELLA POLE HAVING THE UPPER PORTION THEREOF HOLLOW AND PROVIDED WITH SPACED OPENINGS IN ITS PERIPHERY, A NOTCH INCLUDING A CYLINDRICAL SLEEVE HAVING AN UPPER PORTION OF SMALLER OUTSIDE DIAMETER THAN THAT OF THE LOWER PORTION AND PROVIDED WITH A TAPERED AXIAL BORE OF GRADUALLY DECREASING DIAMETER FROM THE TOP TOWARD THE BOTTOM THEREOF, AND AN INTERMEDIATE PORTION JOINING THE UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS, THE OUTSIDE DIAMETER OF SAID LOWER PORTION FITTING WITHIN AND ENGAGING THE HOLLOW PORTION OF SAID POLE, THE SAID LOWER PORTION HAVING SPACED RESILIENT FINGERS EACH FORMED WITH A LOCKING LUG THEREON EXTENDING LATERALLY AWAY FROM SAID FINGER, THE SAID LOCKING LUG OF EACH FINGER FITTING SNUGLY WITHIN AN OPENING IN THE UPPER PORTION OF THE POLE TO FIX SAID SLEEVE AGAINST MOVEMENT IN ALL DIRECTIONS, THE SAID INTERMEDIATE PORTION FORMING A CYLINDRICAL COLLAR OF GREATER OUTSIDE DIAMETER THAN THAT OF SAID LOWER PORTIONS, SAID COLLAR HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY EQUI-SPACED SLOTS IN ITS PERIPHERY EXTENDING IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID SLEEVE, UMBRELLA RIBS EACH HAVING AN END ENGAGING EACH OF SAID SLOTS, AND A GROOVE IN THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF SAID COLLAR AT APPROXIMATELY THE MIDDLE OF ITS THICKNESS INTERSECTING SAID SLOTS, A WIRE PIVOTALLY SECURES THE RIBS TO THE NOTCH REGISTERING WITH SAID GROOVE AND ENGAGING SAID RIB ENDS, AND A BELL HAVING AN AXIAL PIN ENGAGING SAID TAPERED BORE TO THUS SECURE THE BELL TO THE UPPER PART OF SAID POLE. 